Scholarships, grants and fellowships for Burkinabè applicants 2027

Here are the 25 open calls for Burkinabè candidates with the nearest deadlines that still leave a week or more to prepare. Every one closes in October 2026, between the 5th and the 23rd. Only two mention Burkina Faso by name. Four clear our bar for full funding. And because Ouagadougou sits on GMT all year, every closing hour a funder publishes is translated below into local time.

What Burkinabè applicants can apply for now

Fellowships dominate, with 14 of the 25. Then come scholarships (six), grants (four) and a lone training programme, from 24 separate funders. Research careers get the most choice: a postdoc can enter 11 calls, a master's or doctoral candidate seven each, and someone already employed six. Three calls ignore level entirely. Only one welcomes undergraduates.

Eligibility decides how crowded each race is. Burkina Faso is written into the country list of Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) and into that of Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed), and into no other. Any African nationality can try for ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) or African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed). Sub-Saharan Africa is the condition for three calls and developing-country status for three more, and Burkina Faso satisfies both rules. The 15 left over are open worldwide.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship suits people already at work in business or public policy. It has 550 places, hosted in the United States, for applicants aged 35 or under.

The four fully funded calls, soonest first

Our label is strict. A scholarship, fellowship or training programme must fund both the fees and the cost of living, while a grant needs only one of the two. Four calls pass, and none of them stays open after 16 October.

Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) (Tuesday 6 October, 11:00 in Ouagadougou). UTC is the capital's own clock. Chevening pays fees and a stipend for twelve months of master's study in Britain, in the subject of your choice, and wants two years or more of experience behind you.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars 2027: Fully Funded Graduate Study at Stanford (closed) (Tuesday 6 October, 20:00 in Ouagadougou). Stanford covers graduate study for a maximum of three years, master's or doctoral, in any field: tuition with its associated fees, living and academic costs such as board and books, and one economy return ticket a year.

ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) (Wednesday 7 October, 23:59 in Ouagadougou). Tuition is paid in full for a postgraduate degree lasting at most two years in mathematics, engineering, or environment and climate. It also pays a stipend to live on, helps with travel and meets other eligible expenses. Study happens in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal or South Africa.

AGNES Intra-Africa Mobility Grants 2026 for PhD Researchers (closed) (Friday 16 October, 23:59 in Ouagadougou). A doctoral researcher from sub-Saharan Africa uses this grant for a research visit of a month or two at an institute outside his or her own country. The cap is EUR 2,300 for one month and EUR 3,000 for two, for travel and subsistence, with an optional research allowance for the host institute.

Three more calls pay nearly everything without earning the label. FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa is free of tuition fees and pays for economy flights, visa fees and a bed at each of its three workshops, and serves meals every day, though there is no per diem. Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University supplies a room and all meals, an honorarium on completion and a grant for research travel. At Leading for Humanity 2027: Tutu Foundation Leadership Programme (closed), programme costs, lodging and meals are on the foundation, while the flight to South Africa falls to you or a sponsor.

Regional calls: West Africa, francophones, developing countries

None of the 25 restricts entry to West Africa, and none targets French speakers. Eight do filter by region or development status, and a Burkinabè candidate passes all eight.

Sub-Saharan Africa (three calls). AGNES runs two. At most EUR 7,000 goes to each PhD candidate selected by AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant 2026 for PhD Students (closed), for work on agriculture or on climate and the environment, and the mobility grant above completes the pair. Both want an online application in English. The third, FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa, prepares health professionals with two years' experience or more for outbreaks, over 18 months ending on 7 July 2028, with Ghana, Germany and Uganda as hosts.

Developing countries (three calls). The trio consists of DAAD EPOS places at German universities. ISATEC (MSc Marine Biology), University of Bremen: DAAD EPOS 2027 (closed) demands C1 English. Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) takes 24 months, and applications close a year ahead of entry. International Health MSc, Charité Berlin: DAAD EPOS Scholarship 2027 (closed) enrols its successful applicants from September 2027. Their listings do not say what the scholarship pays, so check that on the official page.

All of Africa (two calls). Beside ARC-GSSP stands African Climate Collaborative PhD Fellowships 2027 at UCT (closed), with 12 doctoral fellowships of 48 months for work on climate and environment, or in social science.

Studying in West Africa. Only the host lists mention the region, through ARC-GSSP and FOR-GHP.

French. Ten of the 25 state a language requirement, and English appears in all ten. French turns up once, at Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship 2027 at Durham University, where using the collection means reading French alongside English, Arabic and Ottoman Turkish.

Closing dates and hours in Ouagadougou time

On these dates Ouagadougou (GMT, UTC+0) is an hour behind London, two behind Berlin or Copenhagen, four ahead of New York and seven ahead of California.

• 5 October, Monday. At 16:00 local time, which is 17:00 BST, Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) shuts. Bayreuth Academy Fellowships in African Studies, Germany (closed) follows at 21:59 here, 23:59 CEST in Bayreuth. Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship Programme 2027 (closed) also ends that day, at an unpublished hour.
• 6 October, Tuesday. AIAS Visiting Fellowships 2027: Unsalaried Research Visits in Denmark (closed) at 10:00, which is noon in Copenhagen, still on summer time. Chevening follows at 11:00 and Knight-Hennessy at 20:00, or 1:00 pm in California.
• 7 October, Wednesday. OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) at 6:59, when California is still at 11:59 pm on Tuesday. IAIFI Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027-2030 at MIT (closed) needs the whole file that day, referees' letters included, hour unstated. ARC-GSSP runs until 23:59.
• The week of 12 October. CEES Fellowship Program Spring 2027: Research Stay in Switzerland (closed) closes on Monday the 12th, the Mandela Washington Fellowship on Tuesday the 13th and the Tutu programme on Wednesday the 14th, all at unstated hours.
• 15 October, Thursday. The three EPOS courses close at unstated hours, the UCT fellowships at 21:00 (23:00 SAST).
• 16 October, Friday. Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program 2027 in the United States (closed) closes at 3:59, the moment Eastern Time reaches 11:59 pm on Thursday. Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2027 at CRASSH, Cambridge (closed) at noon in an unnamed zone, which in UK time means 11:00 here. Both AGNES calls end at 23:59.
• 18 October, Sunday. The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) sets 11:59 pm EST as its limit, already Monday 19 October in Ouagadougou: 3:59 if Toronto means its daylight clock, 4:59 if it means strict EST. Email your application on the Sunday.
• 20 October, Tuesday. Cornell Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability 2027 at 21:00, when it is 5 pm Eastern Time. The Mohamed Ali Foundation must have your application in hand that day, at an hour it does not specify.
• 21 October, Wednesday. FOR-GHP accepts files until midnight CET. Should that midnight open the 21st rather than close it, the cut-off falls at 22:00 or 23:00 Ouagadougou time on Tuesday 20 October. Aim for the 20th.
• 23 October, Friday. EUI Jean Monnet Fellowships 2027-2028 for Postdocs in Italy closes at 12:00, or 14:00 in Italy.

Where no hour is given, file a day early, while the funder's office can still answer an email.

Getting your file ready in Burkina Faso

First, strike out the calls whose fixed conditions you miss. Chevening, FOR-GHP and all three EPOS courses insist on at least two years of experience. AIAS wants four.

Then settle the English question, which takes time if you studied in French. Bremen demands C1, waived only for native speakers and for anyone whose last studies were taught wholly in English. Oldenburg accepts B2 through any of seven certificates, IELTS and TOEFL iBT among them. For FOR-GHP, any one of these works: written proof that your higher education was in English, a TOEFL iBT score of 79 to 80, an IELTS band of 6.0, or English as your mother tongue. IAIFI adds that fellows from abroad need English to obtain the J-1 visa for employment at MIT.

CEES wants all application materials in English, sent as a single PDF. If a funder asks for transcripts or diplomas issued in French, find out early whether a certified translation is required.

Referees are the slowest link. IAIFI's deadline of 7 October applies to reference letters as well as your own documents, and the Image Centre counts the letters as part of the application you email. Write to your referees this week and give them a date two days before the real one.

Last, cost out the gap each award leaves. At Bayreuth, fellows who receive nothing from their employer at home get EUR 2,500 a month, subject to a confirmation from that institution or from the latest funder. AIAS pays no salary, so the visit depends on your home employer continuing to pay you. The Image Centre stipend, CAD 10,000 at most, has to stretch over travel, research and related costs, with nothing extra for lodging. For a project rather than a degree, Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) offers up to GBP 25,000, and each grant under OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026 (closed) can reach USD 1,000,000.

Frequently asked questions from Burkinabè applicants

Which calls name Burkina Faso?

Two of the 25 in this guide, Chevening Scholarships 2027/28: One-Year UK Master's (closed) and Mandela Washington Fellowship 2027 for Young African Leaders (closed), print it among the eligible countries.

Can I study in West Africa with one of these awards?

Yes. ARC-GSSP Postgraduate Scholarships for African Students (closed) counts Ghana, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire among its hosts, and FOR-GHP Fellowship 2027: outbreak readiness for sub-Saharan Africa includes Ghana. Every other listed host lies outside the region.

Can I apply in French?

None of these 25 listings says so. All ten that state a language require English.

Is an IELTS score required?

Not everywhere. FOR-GHP does not insist on it, and Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies MSc, Oldenburg: EPOS 2027 (closed) treats IELTS as one certificate among seven.

What is there for undergraduates?

Of these calls, only The Image Centre Research Fellowships 2027 in Toronto for photography research (closed) names undergraduates. Digital Science Catalyst Grant 2026 for AI tools that act on research (closed) has no level condition, and neither does ARC-GSSP or the Tutu programme.

Is there an age limit?

Among these 25, only the Mandela Washington Fellowship sets one, at 35.